AHH THANK YOU! Confirmed for reve zajac !!!

Reve can’t seem to get over how the golden roses on his gown match the golden detailing on @artemis ’s dress — it makes him more emotional towards Artemis than it should, probably. He thinks for a moment about how the person at the dress shop, Maxie, had convinced him to buy his gown. He’s beyond glad he ended up listening to them, now.

To match even in the most minor way with Artemis… to say the least, he’s glad Artemis is his friend.

Reve smiles at the compliment from Artemis — it means a lot, coming from him. “Thank you,” he says softly. Being told he looks good by Artemis makes his heart beat just a little faster, even if he now wishes it didn’t. He’s still unfortunately caught up in feelings for him.

He shoves those thoughts away — he doesn’t really need to remember his feelings for Artemis at this moment, or the soirée, or the knowledge that Artemis will never feel the same, or the way he looked at mint frost . He just needs to try to enjoy the moment. With his closest friend. Who he platonically loves, nothing more, because it can’t be anything more. He’s here, and he’s with his beautiful friend. Friend.

He realized the smile has slightly faded from his face, and is quick to correct that, raising the corners of his mouth again. Even if it is slightly forced.

“Right! Right. Okay,” he hesitates a moment, swaying. He’s tempted to go along with Artemis, seeing as he doesn’t exactly know anyone else here.

“...Yeah, I’ll come with you,” he says. He tries to justify the way in which he’s sticking by Artemis’s side by telling himself Artemis invited him.

He follows Artemis towards the snack table, only to find… nevermind, maybe he does recognize someone here. He sees someone he thinks he recognizes as paxton concordas , standing close to the table, caught in some sort of conversation. Oh, god.

His last meeting with Paxton hadn’t exactly been normal, and he somewhat fears having to speak with the man again. But it’s too late to stop following Artemis now, and he can’t think of any excuses, so closer he approaches.

---

+ @artemis with a peek of paxton concordas

reve only responds to artemis’ question after he’s kissed his cheek. “no, do you?” he teases.

it’s too late to stop reve by the time artemis is signing. he feels almost bad as soon as he notices what the shorter man is saying, but then again, this is war.

he stands quickly, using artemis’s moment of surprise to slip out from underneath his grip. he wishes he could take a moment to allow his own surprise at himself to sink in, but there’s no time — he has to climb to his feet and get away before artemis can shake himself from this surprised stupor fully, after all. he can think about how he kissed artemis chary, beautiful artemis, on the cheek later, once he has time to actually contemplate what he was thinking.

he’s beginning to realize just how soaked he is from head to toe from the combination of snow and his body warmth. he’s almost longing to go in to the warmth of the indoors, where festive stockings (yes, multiple, he has them out for the dogs too) hang over his lit fireplace and he doesn’t have to deal with the feeling of snow-wetted socks clinging to his feet.



but also, even in the freezing weather, wet, reve finds spending time with artemis doing this to be extremely fun. so he’s hesitant to say he wants to go in just yet. besides, that’d be surrendering. he’ll see what artemis does, first.

he watches artemis, waiting for him to make his next move.

---

+ @artemis

Just show up, get the job done, and get out, Reve tells himself, and you’ll be back in time to feed the dogs. Maybe he could even get them some treats with the spare money — they did deserve it, after all.

Leaning to pat his growlithe, he looks at his surroundings. Reve isn’t exactly familiar with the ins-and-outs of combee honey farming, but he assumes his job won’t be anything too unique or difficult. After all, he had been called onto the job, and Reve isn’t exactly known for his extreme skills. No, all he needs to do is smoke out some bees and help collect some honey. It’s simple enough to be a one-person job, so clearly, Reve can do it.

“Ready, little guy?” Reve glances down at Puff, patting the creature. “Remember to try to keep the fire smaller, I don’t want to burn the place down. Or anger the bees too much. Please try not to anger the bees too much.” He doesn’t exactly have time in his schedule for dealing with stings or bites or any other bodily harm combees might cause.

Just him and Puff. They can do this. No problem.[break][break]

---

[break]+ Eris Halla i hope this is alright!

reve isn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t for artemis to literally tackle him. a snowball would’ve been more in-line with his expectations, so saying he’s caught off-guard is an understatement, then, when artemis charges at him to knock him down.

he falls into the snow behind him, glad for the soft ice cushioning his fall. artemis is above him, the fool, having been victorious in his sneaking plan.

reve decides then that he’ll simply have to return the favor. catch artemis off-guard. he grins up at him for a second, pretending to be defeated.

“you got me, i’ll give you that,” he laughs. taking a moment, he admires artemis. he’s beautiful, even having just tackled reve into the snow. having him this close isn’t necessarily a new sight, considering how much they’ve cuddled, but the silver, snowy environment is, and artemis is beautiful in it. reve knows it’s artemis’s job to be beautiful, but sometimes he thinks even that is an understatement of his beauty.

he snaps himself from his thoughts as a smile spreads further across his face. he thinks he has an idea of what might work to distract his friend so he can get up.

quickly he leans up, to plant a single kiss right on artemis’s cheek.

---

+ @artemis

reve‘s decided to blame his lack of movement in response to the snowballs on the snow, shining brighter than a bell, in his eyes. especially since artemis laughs at his pain.

the man is trying to seem innocent, and failing miserably. reve knows what he’s done. reve knows this man’s evil crimes, his wrongdoings against reve. his murderous snowballs.

reve can’t help but laugh in return when the snowball hits artemis’s shoulder, though, and supposes he can’t blame him. it was quite funny to watch the other man get hit with the snow.

“got you!” he says. “regretting challenging me yet?” he’s trying to taunt. “i think i’m pretty good at this for a man from sunyshore, huh?”

despite his taunting, he’s still in severe doubt of the idea he’ll actually win. he’s becoming more certain of artemis’s eventual victory by the moment, beginning to slightly dread, in the most lighthearted sense, the moment of defeat and artemis picking the sweater. he’s overcome with the growing sense that artemis will not be the kindest.

reve ducks when he sees artemis beginning to form a new ball, scooping snow up to try to bud a solid barrier between them. a barrier of protection, he figures, might be for the best. he needs all the advantages he can get.

“you can’t do this to me,” he teases, scrambling.

---

+ @artemis

the snowball hits him straight-on. reve is a very tall man, and thus, a large target. he stands there for a moment, slightly stunned, before looking down at the white powder now coating his jacket. brushing it off with a gloved hand, he turns his face back to artemis.

“you —” he’s tempted to call artemis a bastard. he wouldn’t, though. it’s artemis. and artemis doesn’t deserve that, even while attacking him with snowballs.

artemis’s threat makes him laugh. it’s an unfair battle, reve knows. after all, it’s not reve’s fault he’s bad at snowball fights. leading up to now, his only experiences with snow have usually involved watching a fake version of it falling in a snowglobe ornament gifted to his family years ago. which isn’t even snow, technically, reve knows.

but also, he doesn’t entirely hate the idea of artemis picking out a sweater for him, even if it does end up being the most hideous thing known to mankind. worst case, it’ll become a highly-treasured pajama top to never be seen by the outside world.

“you’re evil, i don’t stand a chance and you know it,” reve tells him. “but fine, it’s on. better pick a nice sweater for me,” considering artemis's experience with snow, he’s not going to boast and be proven wrong. that’d be more embarrassing than the sweater.

he throws the snowball in hand, aiming directly for artemis’s shoulder. it was a bad place to aim strategically, but it had been the first to come to mind. [break][break]

---

[break]+ @artemis idk this seems a little gay to me

aaa confirmed for reve zajac tysm!!

“you are!” reve lightheartedly claims, “i see you forming that thing! that weapon of destruction! your evil creations, @artemis .”



he laughs at the sight of the sad attempt of a snowball hitting, crumbling on artemis as it does. he hadn’t really expected it to hit, as pathetic as his throw had been. he’d feel guilty if artemis hadn’t attacked first.



“you won’t get away with this attack on me,” he doesn’t think he could hope to push down the sense of joy filling his chest if he tried. he’s truly happy, he thinks.



artemis is standing close to him, grinning back at him, and reve thinks it’s the most beautiful expression he could possibly wear. the purple-haired man is beautiful no matter the situation, but something about seeing him happy, seeing him smiling… it’s special to reve. artemis is special to reve. he doesn’t think he could describe his elation at seeing artemis so joyous if he tried.



how mint frost could have abandoned this, reve has no idea. if he weren’t so busy happily rolling up the next snowball to hit artemis with, he’d feel a tinge of anger at the man for leaving such a wonderful person behind. for hurting him.



for now, though, he’s busy. and he and artemis are happy, and that's what matters. not mint frost. “throw that and i throw this!” he threatens the purple-haired man, smiling.[break][break]

---

[break]+ @artemis kinda gay of them tbh

This undead creature is clinging to @artemis . Reve couldn’t be more stressed.

This Mint is saying horrible things, guilting Artemis, asking him not to leave. Reve feels a wave of disgust wash over him. It’s clear Mint means a lot to Artemis, and the distress this is causing Artemis is not one anyone deserves.

“Artemis. Artemis, this isn’t him. We’re going to go find the real one, okay?” He tries reassuring him, though he’s not certain it helps much.

This Mint starts putting intentions on Reve, trying to convince Artemis of things that aren’t true, and Reve thinks he might be getting angry. He doesn’t think it’s best if Artemis stays. No, he wants Artemis safe and at home and comfortable. Not with this… rotting corpse, decaying all over him.

“I’m not leaving you, Artemis. Never would.”

He isn’t sure what to do at first — he doesn’t want to react too harshly, but this thing is clinging to Artemis. He doesn’t think there’s another way. And he's panicking, going in mental circles, and he knows he won't be able to think of anything else. So he acts fast, reaching back for Artemis’s hand, grabbing and clutching it tightly.

“I’m here, okay? Not going anywhere,” he tries to reassure. “Not without you. We’re leaving together.”

He pulls on him, feeling bad about how forceful he’s being. This Mint isn’t giving him much of a choice, though. Ducking down, he swoops his arms underneath Artemis. One arm under his legs, one arm under his back. Artemis is normally easy to pick up, being significantly shorter than him, but having a clinging zombie complicates things.

He doesn’t have hands free to bat at the hands holding Artemis, so instead he lifts his arms and quickly turns, hoping that’ll be enough to get the zombie off.

Placing a hand in Artemis’s hair, he holds Artemis’s face against him, trying to comfort and shield his eyes from the sight of the living-rotting-decaying creature behind him. When he’s cuddled with Artemis before, Artemis has seemed to enjoy little circles being made in his hair, leaning into them and relaxing. He hopes this’ll provide some sense of comfort and remind him of those better moments, even in a timelike this.

Now, to find mint frost . Reve takes off in the direction he believes Mint to be in, as fast as he can through the mist while carrying someone. Which is to say, he isn’t the fastest.

There is a door, and Mint stands inside it. He looks… like a disaster. Reve feels a pang of worry for the near-stranger, trying to speed his pace. Mint shouts to him, and it does nothing to quell the worry.

“Mint!” He tries to yell. He flinches at the harsh, loud sound of his own voice, feeling guilty for being so loud with Artemis so near.

“I'm sorry, Artemis,” he more quietly apologizes, “this is going to be a bit noisy.”

“Mint, please,” his volume increases. “It’ll be okay, it — you just have to get away! Please,” he pleads with the man, hoping he’ll make it.

Reve wonders if he’ll even be able to carry two, if it comes down to it.[break][break]

---

[break]+ for @artemis and mint frost [break]+ sorry bastards

Saying Reve is hesitant about the ball is an understatement.

After the disaster that was the Soirée, Reve’s acquired a healthy fear of such social gatherings. But Artemis was here, and he had asked him along, and, well. Reve was nothing if not supportive. Anything for Artemis Chary, right?

At least this time Artemis would be aware of his presence before, if any disaster were to occur. Not that he thinks it will, but. Just in case.

The shorter man stands beside him, in that beautiful dress Reve couldn’t help but admire. Pink and floor-length, Reve thinks it could look better on no one else.

Reve had been torn, almost choosing a piplup-blue gown for the frosty event, but ultimately had decided on the gown he now wears. Red and gold, he’s glad he did — he thinks it looks better alongside the blush pink.

There’s a nudge at his shoulder, so Reve looks to Artemis.

“...It is,” he agrees, being pulled from his thoughts. “It really is.” The fairy-lights make the park look magical, he thinks. Artemis looks right among this scene, he thinks, though Artemis would look right anywhere. As beautiful as he is.

“You look good,” he says. It’s awkward, but Artemis is his friend. He can compliment his friend. “The dress. Suits you.” He clears his throat, looking around the party. Now that he’s here, he’s unsure what else to do. The only person he knows is Artemis, but he doesn’t want to be overly-clingy. [break][break]

---

[break] @artemis but reve is open to interaction!

reve’s curious about the glaceon he’s heard about nearby. he likes the little creatures, and at least wants to go see them. reve is fond of them, and he has nothing better to do, after all. maybe later that night he’d go home and curl up to watch a christmas story or whatever other movies were on tv.

he’s not disappointed at the sight he finds, a swarm of eevee and glaceon lounging around. he can’t help but smile as he observes the little creatures. [break][break]BiMwAucf

grinning, reve watches as artemis gathers the snow. “and now you’re gonna get me back for getting you back? you’re a cruel man, artemis chary,” he jokes. “i can’t believe you won’t accept equal retribution.”

even as a joke, he can’t help but think the words sound slightly wrong. artemis is the furthest thing from cruel. despite his frosty exterior, reve found he could be sweet as honey. at least he is around reve. sometimes. when it’s not snowing.

nevermind that. reve can’t be distracted at this moment, thinking about the way artemis greets him at work, or the way he’ll lay with him on a couch and cuddle, or the way he’d always sign hello to the dogs when he sees them… how kind of a man he really is…

thinking about artemis’s kindness was gonna get him shoved into the snow again, he reminds himself. he needs to focus. artemis ahead of him. he’s seeking vengeance.

looking down at his hands, his snowball is beginning to melt from the warmth of his palms. realizing his time is limited, reve aims his attempt at a snowball, and fires.

maybe it’s not the best throw, but he sure does try.[break][break]

---

[break]@artemis them............